Owner of Company Blamed in Back Bay Fire Denies Responsibility

Firefighters battled the nine-alarm blaze in the Back Bay on March 26.
–Boston Fire Department via Twitter/Reuters

By

Bruce Wright

May 6, 2014

The owner of D & J Iron Works, the Malden welding company blamed for sparking the fire that killed two firefighters responding to a nine-alarm blaze in the Back Bay, says that he and his company are not responsible for the fire, according to a new report.

The fire claimed the lives of Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh Jr., 43, of West Roxbury and Michael R. Kennedy, 33, of Hyde Park. Several others were injured in the blaze.

The Boston Herald reported that the owner, Giuseppe Falcone, filed a seven-page response to the lawsuit filed against him by the building’s owner.

Giuseppe Falcone, 53, of Revere, states the estimated $4.2 million in damages incurred by the owners of 298 Beacon St., the brownstone apartment building where Walsh and Kennedy became trapped in the basement as wild winds off the Charles River whipped the flames into a frenzy, "were caused by others for whose conduct the defendant is not responsible."

Falcone’s response includes his claim that the company, D & J Iron Works, isn’t really a business entity after all.